Are students at your school vaccinated for measles, mumps, more? (Search 5,400 NY schools)

New York state is suffering the worst outbreak of measles in decades, health officials say.

Rockland and Orange counties had 142 confirmed cases this winter. There are about 60 cases in Brooklyn. In Upstate NY, Monroe County is handling seven cases, according to the NYS Health Department.

Measles is a virus that spreads through coughing or sneezing, and can lead to severe complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis and even death in rare cases if left untreated, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The highly contagious disease can be prevented with a vaccination.

But both public and private schools can grant exemptions for medical reasons or for religious reasons.

The New York State Health Department discloses the percent of students in each building vaccinated against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, hepatitis B and varicella (or chicken pox.) The data also shows the percentage of students who opted out for medical or religious reasons.

Syracuse.com pulled the information for about 5,400 schools for the 2017-18 school year into a searchable database. (This year’s data is not yet available.)

Check your school building or use a filter to search for all public and private schools in a city or county.

There is a bill before the NYS Legislature that would make it easier for parents to seek religious exemptions for their children. The existing law gives school districts wide discretion to determine if a parent’s religious beliefs are valid. Opponents fear the proposed law could open the door to the spread of life-threatening diseases in New York as more people receive exemptions for their children that might have been turned down in the past.

Note: The New York State Health Department discloses the percent of students in each building that had the measles vaccination. To protect privacy, the state does not disclose the actual number of students immunized.